Admission Criteria

Note: The PhD courses are not currently offered in French. The PhD program is offered only on a full-time basis and it is not a distance education program.

To be considered for admission, applicants must:

  • Hold a master’s degree in a relevant discipline. Each field has articulated its own list:
    • Accounting: master’s degree in Accounting or Finance
    • Entrepreneurship: master’s degree in Management or Social Sciences, and depending on the area of inquiry, applicants with other areas of specialization at the master's level may also be admissible
    • Finance: master’s degree in Finance, or a relevant discipline with a solid understanding of finance theory and how it applies to financial management
    • Health Systems: master’s degree with thesis in Health Systems, Nursing, Health Informatics, or Health Sciences. Depending on the area of inquiry, students with a degree in Information Systems, Electronic Business Technology, or Operations Research may also be admissible
    • Organizational Behavior (OB) and Human Resources (HR): master’s degree with thesis in OB/HR or Psychology
    • Strategy and Organization : master’s degree in Management or Social Sciences, and depending on the area of inquiry, applicants with other areas of specialization at the master's level may also be admissible

Note: Students whose master’s degree was not in a related discipline may be required to take up to 9 units of additional courses beyond those normally required for the PhD in Management.

  • Have a minimum admission average of A- (80%) calculated in accordance with the Graduate Studies guidelines (last 10 courses for foreign transcripts or last 30 units for Canadian and USA transcripts)
  • Submit their results in the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
  • Show English proficiency

An interview with the admission committee or a member thereof may be required.

Application Deadline

All Candidates: January 15

Any document not written in English or French must be accompanied by an official translation in English or French. Note: The selection committee will not consider applications without all the required documents.

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Application Process

In order for your admission file to be reviewed by the Telfer School of Management Admissions Committee the following tasks must be completed:

  1. Complete the OUAC application form online. Your application will be transmitted once you have paid the administration fees. You will receive by email your uoAccess ID and password within 3 to 5 days. This ID and password will allow you to log in to the uoZone student portal uoZone.
  2. Upload via the student portal, under the tab Applications, then uoDoc the following electronic documents:
    • Curriculum vitae (resume): Detail research or academic experience relating to your area of research interest and any pertinent volunteer work.
    • Statement of research interest clearly identifying your chosen field of interest (Accounting and Control, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Health Systems, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources, or Strategy and Organization). In your statement, please include the name of at least one professor whose research interests correspond to yours and with whom you would like to work. You can review the list of available supervisors under the “Our Faculty Members” tab of each field of study. We encourage you to read their recent papers and to contact them to introduce yourself and express your interest in working with them. The statement of research interests should be between 800 and 1,000 words.
    • Writing sample, such as a scholarly paper, between 10 and 15 pages in length
    • Admission test scores (GMAT or GRE). To speed up the evaluation process, please upload a copy of your GMAT or GRE report. Request that official GMAT or GRE test results be available electronically to the Telfer Graduate Office.
      • The GMAT department code is 4BZ-76-85 (PhD) 
      • GRE institutional code is 0993
      • NOTE: The TAGE MAGE will not be accepted
    • Transcripts: transcript from each university level institution you attended.
      • Candidates who completed their studies in China must submit official translations (transcripts and diplomas) certified by the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC). They must be sent directly to our institution
        Transcripts from the University of Ottawa will be requested by our office.
      • Transcripts from non-Canadian and non-American institutions should include the grading scale (often found at bottom or back of the transcript. If not, you need to obtain it from your school). 
      • If the transcript is not in English or French, a certified translation must be submitted.
      • N.B. Official and recent transcripts will be required in the event of an admission offer. Please have them delivered to the following address: Telfer School of Management
        55 Laurier Avenue East, Room 4160
        Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Canada
    • Official language proficiency test scores (TOEFL, IELTS, etc.) if applicable.  To be valid, the test score must be less than two years old at the time of application. To speed up the evaluation process, please upload a copy of your language test report. Request that official from ETS (TOEFL) or IELTS to make the results be available electronically to the Telfer Graduate Office.
      • TOEFL institutional code is 0993.
  1. Add your two referees’ contact information in the Admission Portal checklist (uoZone). Your referees will receive an email from the University of Ottawa with a link to a recommendation form to be submitted virtually. The referees should be an academic contact with knowledge of your research abilities.

Note

  • The selection committee will not consider applications without all required documents.
  • The University of Ottawa does not accept paper documents. If you submit paper versions of any documents at the time of the admission process, they will be shredded. Any documents received other than those required will be disregarded and deleted.
  • Any document not written in English or French must be accompanied by an official translation in English or French.
  • If you having problems uploading your electronic documents, please contact the Telfer Graduate Office by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline date to submit a complete application file (all candidates):  January 15

Admission Tests

GMAT or GRE

The PhD requires one of the two following Admission Tests:

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)

For more information about the GMAT

Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®)

For more information about the GRE®

N.B. The GMAT or the GRE® is mandatory and this admission requirement will not be waived.

Language Requirements

Language Proficiency

Candidates whose first language is not English must submit ONE of the following to confirm their English proficiency (the test scores cannot be more than two years old as of September 1 of the year of potential entry into the program):

  • A score of at least 100 on the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
  • A score of at least 7 in at least three of the four International English Language Testing System (IELTS) rubrics (Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking) and at least 6 in the fourth. The General Training IELTS test is not accepted.
  • Proof of completion, within the last five years, of a previous degree program in an English language university.
  • Proof of recent prolonged residence and employment in an English speaking country (normally at least four of the last six years)
  • A score of at least 68 on the Pearson Test of English (Academic) (PTE Academic).

Recognition of Courses

Exemptions, Retained Units and Advanced Standing

Students enrolled in the MSc program in Management or Health Systems at the University of Ottawa may be allowed to fast-track to the PhD program without being required to write a master’s thesis, provided they meet the following conditions:

  • Completion of 9 units of master’s courses with a minimum average of 8.5;
  • Satisfactory progress in the research program;
  • Submission and successful defense of a well-developed research proposal;
  • Written recommendation from the proposed PhD thesis supervisor (and co-supervisor if applicable) and another professor in the program;
  • Students must request permission to fast- track during the third term of enrolment or earlier and, if approved, must enrol in the PhD in the fourth term.

    N.B. Requests to fast-track are only granted on an exceptional basis, and upon a committee’s evaluation.

Students who have successfully completed compulsory units in other universities or their equivalents prior to admission may be granted an exemption. That is, they may be permitted to replace those units with elective units in the program on the advice of their supervisor and the program director, provided the units were completed with a grade of 85% or better no more than five years prior to admission to the PhD.

The maximum number of units for which an exemption can be granted is six. Consult the General Regulations, section 2.3, Registration, equivalencies and transfer of course units.